Boro Chili Fest, to be held 5-9 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6, and Christmas in the Boro, beginning with a parade at 4 p.m. and lasting until 8 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 7, will be two holiday season events that carry on local traditions but have some new hosts and sponsors.
In fact, the “Chili Town” competition has served as a fundraiser for the Humane Society of Statesboro and Bulloch County the past few years, but through 2023 it remained part of the Downtown Statesboro Development Authority’s “Holiday Celebration” First Friday.
Since the DSDA in August cancelled First Fridays for the remainder of the year, the Humane Society has stepped up to host the chili cooking competition and related Friday evening activities under the new name “Chili Fest.” The location will be the Statesboro Main Street Farmers Market facility behind the Visit Statesboro center at 222 South Main St.
“The Humane Society has benefited from Chili Town for the last couple of years,” said Humane Society President Lynn Ivey. “So when I got the call that the DSDA couldn’t do it anymore, we just kind of stepped up and said, ‘We’ll figure something out.’ So we’re doing the chili contest; we’ve got vendors, Santa Claus, face painting.”
The Humane Society has been soliciting donations, and the only thing the organization and its sponsors were not able to arrange for Friday was a parade, she said. (But again, there will be a parade the next day, Saturday Nov. 7, to launch the separate Christmas in the Boro event.)
Earlier this week, after the loss of one donor, Ivey was looking for someone to provide 500 hotdogs and buns and someone to cook them for this largely free-of-charge event.
“It is a free-entry event. The pictures with Santa are free (Just use your own camera). The face painting is free. Everything is free except for the vendors,” she said, adding that the members of the chili-tasting public will pay for tickets, starting at $1 each, to vote for their favorite spicy, mild or hearty stews.
With 18 vendors signed up at the beginning of this week and room for about 12 more, the event will be laid out somewhat like Shopping by Lantern Light, but with vendors at the front of the Farmers Market building and chili contestants in back.
“We do need some more vendors,” Ivey said. “We’d like to do … everything gift-related or artsy or farmers or people who make jams and jellies or stuff like that. Anybody can apply, but we’d love to make it so that people can shop for holiday food and gifts.”
To apply for a vendor booth or for more information, call 912-484-0038. With 23 chili contestants signed up as of Nov. 27, there was also still room for at least two more.
Chili competition
A panel of judges will taste-test chili for first-, second- and third-place Best Overall Chili prizes as a well as a Best Restaurant Chili award. The judges will not know which restaurant prepared chili in that last category, since judges’ samples will be identified only by a number, with an “R” added on restaurant samples to differentiate the professional entries from those by home and amateur chefs, she explained. An award for the best decorated table will also be presented.
But the coveted People’s Choice Chili title will be awarded based on votes cast in the form of tickets, starting at $1 each, purchased by the chili-tasting public. All chilis will be available in 2-ounce sample cups. With no entry fee required of the contestants, the vote tickets are an important source of the Humane Society’s proceeds.
So this is not a one-person/one-vote situation, and casting multiple votes for the same chili is possible. Besides $1 for an individual vote ticket, tickets will be sold 10 for $5 or “an arm’s length of tickets for $20,” Ivey said.
The Humane Society will also have a booth of its own where donations can garner various rewards, such as pet toys or a dog or cat Christmas stocking.
In addition to the Humane Society, named sponsors of Boro Chil Fest include the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber, Statesboro Properties and Georgia Power. They are renting the use of the Convention & Visitors Bureau facility. To supplement the visitors center parking, Queensborough National Bank and Statesboro-Bulloch County Library are allowing use of their parking lots during the event, 5-9 p.m. Dec. 6.
Saturday’s big event
Christmas in the Boro, scheduled for 4-8 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, is slated to begin with a 4 p.m. parade through downtown Statesboro. Overall event sponsors are Bulloch Solutions, the Statesboro-Bulloch Chamber of Commerce and Georgia Power, with proceeds to go to the Boys & Girls Club of Bulloch County.
The parade will include “a special appearance from Santa Claus himself,” states a press release sent out from Bulloch Solutions.
Other announced attractions as the event continues into Saturday evening include food vendors, with an emphasis on holiday snacking, an opportunity for “kids of all ages” to “visit Santa for a special holiday photo opportunity,” a “bounce house for little ones to jump and play,” and a hayride at Synovus Bank.
Tailgate Bingo
The Humane Society will also host a Tailgate Holiday Bingo event, 3-6 p.m. Saturday, Dec. 7, at Eagle Creek Brewing Company. Unlike the society’s usual Tailgate Bingo competition, this one will be adult-only, recommended ages 18 and up, with Lovestruck Lingerie & Novelties as sponsor. Entry fee is $25, extra set $10, and bring pet food or supplies for door prize tickets.
The Humane Society of Statesboro and Bulloch County, an all-volunteer organization separate from the county Animal Shelter, pulls animals from the shelter, has them spayed or neutered and given any required shots, monitors for family compatibility and tries to find them adoptive homes. The group also operates the local TNR or “Trap, Neuter, Return” program, neutering and releasing stray or feral cats, such as 20 recently rounded up outside a Statesboro motel.
The society receives no funding from its national namesake or the city or county governments. “All the money we get comes from events and donations,” Ivey said. “We all work at jobs and then do this because we love animals.”